The Boy with the Dog
by Chinarin
Summary: It was pathetic, the love the two had for each other. Nothing good ever came out of love. Cato knew that for a fact, thanks to some firsthand experience he had when he was eight. Theme 1  Love  of 100 Theme Challenge.


_Theme 1 - Love_

_The Boy with the Dog_

Cato smirked as he leaned against a tree, gnawing on a piece of beef jerky that he had in his backpack. The backpack was among the few things that the bitch from 12 hadn't destroyed when she set off the mines, since it had been with him the whole time. He scowled at the thought of Katniss Everdeen. He would kill her, that was for sure, if she didn't die on her own while trying to save that boy, Peeta.

It was pathetic, the love the two had for each other. Love would only get them killed in these Games. Nothing good ever came out of love. Cato knew that for a fact, thanks to some firsthand experience he had when he was eight.

_It was a hot, breezeless day in District 2. A tall, dark-haired young boy sat on his front porch step, watching his dog, Hercules, retrieve a thrown stick. _

_Cato grinned at the sight of the large, dark brown mutt carrying a large, dark brown stick in his mouth. Between the bark, Hercules's teeth showed, making it look like he was smiling. His tail wagged wildly as he neared the house. The dog dropped the stick at his owner's feet, tail still waving back in forth._

_Cato pet Hercules, making the dog's tail wag even faster, until it was only a blur. He picked up the stick and hefted it down the hill their house was situated on. In a flash, the dog was off again to fetch the stick._

_Every day was like this. Cato spent the majority of his time with Hercules, and never went anywhere without him. The dog would accompany him to school, and wait outside until recess, when all the children would play with him. Then, at the end of the day, he would accompany Cato home._

_He loved Hercules more than anyone else in the world._

_Later, on that same afternoon, the two lied on the grass, relaxing. Cato murmured words as he pet Hercules._

"_You're such a good dog. I love you, Herc."_

_The dog's tail wagged._

"_Cato!"_

_A stern voice jolted the young boy. His hand froze on Hercules's back. He didn't dare turn around, and he didn't need to in order to know who was coming up the hill._

_His father._

_Mr. Andris stomped up the hill, circling his son until he stood directly in front of him. Hercules's tail stopped wagging. Cato looked up, determined to not become petrified like so many others who had been under the intimidating gaze of his father. _

"_What are you doing?" his father demanded. He was still wearing his gear from the Training Center, where he taught Careers to fight. "You should be training, not playing with that stupid dog."_

_Cato put a protective arm around Hercules. "I don't want to train. I don't want to be a Career," he said, glaring at his father._

_His father countered his glare with an icy look of his own. "It's because of this dog, isn't it?" He looked Hercules up and down, inspecting every inch of him. The dog's ears were back in submission._

"_Well, maybe we should just kill it!" He moved closer to Hercules. _

_Cato put his other arm around Hercules, hugging him, protecting him. "No, I-I won't let you hurt him," he said, his voice breaking. Tears welled up in his eyes. His father couldn't hurt Hercules. Hercules was the world to him. He _loved _him._

"_Suit yourself, then," his father said, unaffected by his son's despair. He lifted a booted foot and brought it down, hard, on the inside of Cato's elbow. The boy screamed in pain and released his grip on Hercules, falling backward onto the grassy ground._

_He continued screaming as he watched his father mercilessly take Hercules's head in his hand and twisted it. There was a sharp cracking sound that pierced Cato in the heart, like a knife. The sound echoed in his ears long after that day. But the words his father spoke as he dropped the dead dog's misshapen head echoed even longer. _

"_This is a lesson, Cato," Mr. Andris had said. "Training is number one in your life. Winning the Games is number one in your life. Love is not. Love is a pathetic waste of time. Do not get caught up in love. No good will come of it."_

_The words stung more than any tracker jacker or sword point could have._

_The young boy with the dog disappeared after that day._

Yes, no doubt Peeta and Katniss would both die. Their love would be a waste of time, a futile effort. It was pathetic.

Love was pathetic.

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><p><strong>AN: I cried while writing this. I don't hope you enjoyed this, but I hope it affected you in some way.**


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